Jurgen Klopp faces touchline ban after being charged for comments made during Liverpool’s draw with West Ham

JURGEN KLOPP faces a touchline ban after being charged by the FA for accusing referee Kevin Friend of bias.

The Liverpool boss slammed Friend after last week’s 1-1 draw at West Ham.

Jurgen Klopp has been charged by the FA after accusing referee Kevin Friend of biasReutersThe Liverpool boss faces a touchline ban after being charged for his commentsPA:Press Association

And he could now miss a Premier League game in a potential disruption to Liverpool’s title charge.

Klopp suggested Friend had attempted to make up for his side’s offside opener – when James Milner should have been flagged in the lead up to Sadio Mane’s goal – by favouring the home side in the second half.

He said: “I heard our goal was offside, I’m pretty sure the ref knew that in the second half.

“In 50-50 situations or 60-40 it was always a free-kick for the other team, which was hard and did not make life easy.”

The FA were in contact with Klopp within 16 hours, a sign of their determination to hold the German to account for what appeared a clear breach of regulations.

'I can't do anything'

Gunnar, go!

Jurgen Klopp accused Kevin Friend of bias after Liverpool drew with West Ham at the London StadiumGetty Images – Getty

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Managers have been warned they face sanctions if they imply bias or attack the integrity of officials and the comments seemed to have made a cast-iron case.

An FA statement read: “It is alleged that comments he made in a post-match interview following Liverpool’s league game against West Ham United on 4 February 2019 breached Rule E3 as they questioned the integrity of the match referee and/or implied bias.”

Klopp has until 6pm on Monday to respond to the charge.

A disciplinary hearing must then be held by March 1 with disciplinary chiefs likely to call for a touchline ban of one match.